Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 11:45:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Thomas Gaige
Subject: My Step-Brother Jacob - Chapter 68
DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions
of sexual activities between teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years
of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this
material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you
choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it!
My Step-Brother Jacob
Chapter 68
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The next morning, at the appointed time, Andy, Jacob, the twins, and I
knocked on Harry's and Mr. Phillip's door. Mr. Phillips answered and let
us in. I noticed right away that neither of them looked very happy. In
fact, Harry looked completely miserable. The guys all noticed this too.
Jacob looked upset because Harry was so obviously upset, but he remained
calm, and just looked at Harry, who looked back at him. Neither said
anything.
The previous night, Mr. Phillips had suggested we pack our bags and leave
them in his room for the morning, as we'd have to check out before we
were ready to leave the city that day, or pay for another night's stay.
So we'd all packed our bags before we left our room and brought them with
us. We piled them up in a corner, along with Harry's bag. Mr. Phillips
gave me a spare key to his room then, and told us that since he would be
at a meeting later when we came to get our bags, that we could just let
ourselves in, grab our stuff, and leave the key on the dresser on our way
out. I thanked him.
We left then for our morning outting. On our way out of the hotel, I
settled our bill and checked us out of our rooms, explaining that we'd
left our bags with our friend's father, and we'd be back later for them,
and to get our car back. They said that would be fine.
Mr. Phillips took us to a nearby coffee shop then, and we all ordered
bagels, pastries, and juices. Mr. Phillips and I got a large pot of
coffee for the two of us to share as well.
Breakfast was rather quiet, as everyone was eating, and it was painfully
obvious that Harry and his father were obviously having a problem.
I noticed Harry wasn't eating anything. I tried to convince him to eat,
but he just said he wasn't hungry. Mr. Phillips didn't say anything.
After the rest of us had finished eating, Mr. Phillips said he wanted to
take us for a tour of NBC studios, which was only a block or so away.
Together, we walked over there, and joined one of the tours. The boys
all enjoyed it. Even Harry appeared mildly interested.
* * *
At noon time, Mr. Phillips suggested we walk up to the park, and buy our
lunches from the food vendors, and eat al fresco. The boys were all
hungry, except for Harry, and thought this sounded good.
"Are you sick?" I asked, feeling his forehead.
He didn't feel hot or cold.
"No! I'm just not hungry! Leave me alone!" he said, rather testily to
me.
I looked at him, but tinging pink, he looked down at the ground. I was
surprised that his father didn't say anything about his outburst. It
wasn't that I cared so much. I knew Harry didn't mean to be cross with
me. It was very unlike Harrison Phillips though, to allow his children
any leeway when it came to manners.
"Well, tell me when you get your appetite back, and I'll see that you get
something to eat," I said.
"OK," Harry said. "Thank you, and I'm sorry for snapping at you."
"It's OK," I said.
When we'd finished eating, Mr. Phillips said that he was sorry, but he'd
have to go and catch a cab, as he had a meeting to go to.
We all thanked Mr. Phillips for treating us to all our meals, and for the
tour of NBC. Then, we all shook hands with him and said good-bye. Mr.
Phillips asked Harry to walk with him to the street then, for a moment.
Reluctantly, Harry followed his father to the street. The two spoke
briefly. Their conversation looked a little heated, at least as far as
Harry's side of it went. Suddenly, Harry turned toward us, and without
so much as a handshake with is father, he headed back to us, leaving Mr.
Phillips staring sadly after him. Mr. Phillips watched his son a minute,
then turned around and hailed a taxi. He got in, and it drove away in
the direction of downtown. I wasn't sure what was going on, but
uncharacteristically for me, given our history, I felt rather sorry for
Mr. Phillips.
"Harry! What the Hell's wrong?" Jacob asked, as Harry rejoined us.
"Nothing!" Harry said, tersely.
We could all clearly see though that Harry was very upset. We all kept
looking at him.
"I told you nothing's wrong! Can we drop it please?" Harry said, almost
desperately.
I wrapped my arm around Harry and pulled him into a hug. Then I kissed
him on the top of his head.
"We all love you, and we're all here for you if you decide you want to
talk about it," I said.
I felt Harry's arms wrap around me and he squeezed me a little then. He
left his face buried against me for a minute, letting me hold him.
"Thanks," he said, when he finally pulled away. I could see his eyes
were watery. He took off his glasses, and rubbed them with his fists a
little.
"Anytime," I said, smiling at him.
He smiled ryely at me then.
* * *
"OK, so who wants to do something while we're still here in New York
yet?" I asked.
The boys all seemed agreeable. Even Harry. It had started to thunder
and lightning, and it looked like it was going to rain soon though. I
asked them what they wanted to do, that we could do indoors. We
discussed it a couple minutes, and the boys finally decided they'd like
to go to the Hayden Planetarium. Jacob, Harry, Andy, and I'd been there
in January, but the show had changed since then. And the twins hadn't
been in a while.
I put Andy and the twins in one cab, and Jacob, Harry, and I caught
another one, and we were off to the Planetarium. It was a good thing
we'd taken the cabs, rather than taking the long walk through the park
that it would've been to get there, because just as we were walking in
the door to the Museum of Natural History, which also housed the
planetarium, the heavens opened up and it began pouring.
We got to the planetarium just in time for the next show, which we all
enjoyed very much. Afterward, we visited the museum gift shop. The boys
gave my credit card a workout when they all found T-shirts and a souvenir
or two that they liked. They picked out T-shirts for me and Andy too,
and a wind chime for Grandma. I told Jacob he could get one for
Elizabeth too if he liked. He grinned and grabbed one more then. I
smiled when I came across a display of snow globes. There was one in
particular, which was unique, and rather large. Inside it was split into
four scenes, each taking up a quarter of the space within the globe. One
scene was the statue of Liberty. Another was the South Street Seaport
and Brooklyn Bridge. The third was part of Central park. The fourth was
Rockefeller Center. Each scene showed the area it represented, as if it
was decorated for Christmas. There was a battery operated blower, which
blew the snow around in it, and the song the music box played was "New
York, New York"! Of course I bought it for Andy, and he loved it.
"I'm going to need a suitcase just for all the snow globes you're buying
me!" he said, smiling happily at me.
* * *
It was time for us to get back to the hotel then, to pick up our luggage
and my car, and head back to Asbury Park.
When we walked out of the museum, we were happy to see that the weather
had cleared. Even so, I still hailed a couple taxis for us, as the trek
back to the Majestic would've been rather long.
When we got to the hotel, we stopped at the desk and asked to have the
car brought from the garage. Then a bell hop accompanied us up to
Harry's father's room. He loaded up our luggage and took off for the
lobby with it, while we all used the bathroom quickly. When we were all
finished, I left Mr. Phillips' extra key on the dresser and scrawled a
quick thank-you note for him, then we went back downstairs.
My car pulled up, just as we walked out the front door. We loaded our
luggage into the trunk, got in, and took off, heading back to Grandma's.
* * *
That afternoon, after we got home, the twins went out to shoot some
hoop. Jacob and Harry went too. Harry dropped out rather soon though,
and just sat on the deck watching the others.
I went out and sat down with him.
"Wanta talk about whatever's eating away at you?" I asked, quietly.
Harry looked up at me, and I could see he was agonizing over something.
"We could take a little walk, just you and me, and you could spill your
guts. I think you'd feel better, if you had someone to talk to about
whatever it is," I said.
Harry's eyes began to look watery, as he looked at me and said, "Can we
go somewhere more private?"
"My room?" I asked.
"No! Away from here!" he said, quietly.
"C'mon," I said, smiling slightly.
Harry got up and followed me, as I headed for my car.
"We're going for a little ride," I said quietly to Andy, as we walked
past him.
"OK," he said, flashing Harry a sad smile.
Harry barely nodded in return.
We got into my car and, Grandma, Andy, and the boys all watched as I
backed out of the driveway. As we drove away, I could see that Jacob was
very upset. I knew it bothered him that Harry wouldn't talk to him about
whatever was wrong. I figured he was probably a little scared to find
out what it was too, because he saw how upset Harry was about it. I knew
I'd have to speak with him later as well.
* * *
Harry and I rode silently for a few minutes, until we got to the beach.
"I should've known this is where you'd bring me," Harry remarked, smiling
slightly.
"Is this OK, or should we go elsewhere?" I asked.
"This is fine," Harry said. "Kind of what I had in mind myself."
We took off our shoes and left them in the car, and I grabbed a blanket,
then we wandered down the access path to the beach. There were still
some people around, so we turned north, and walked up the beach a little
ways, until we found an area where we were alone. I threw the blanket
down and we sat down next to each other, and watched the tide going out.
For a few minutes, neither of us spoke.
"So!" I said finally, looking down at Harry. "Seems like you and your
dad were having a major problem. Do you want to tell me about it?"
When Harry looked up at me his lower jaw was trembling and he had tears
running down his cheeks. I felt awful for the boy. I'd never seen him
this upset before.
"Come here," I said quietly, wrapping an arm around him, and pulling him
toward me.
Harry scootched his butt over to me. Then, he turned to me and let me
take him in my arms and hold him. He broke down and began sobbing
uncontrollably then. All I could do was hold him, and let him cry
himself out, which I did.
Eventually Harry calmed down. When he was finally able to speak again,
he told me all about his father's possible promotion, and their move from
London to New York. I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut myself once
I'd heard, and I knew that Jacob would be devastated if it ever truly
came to pass.
We talked about it for a bit, and Harry told me more specifically the
things he and his father had talked about. I got him to admit then that
his father had said it was only a possibility yet. That nobody knew for
sure. He still felt though that his father did know for sure, or he
wouldn't have mentioned it.
"He's like that," Harry said.
We talked some more about it, then Harry turned to me and said, "You know
what the worst thing will be?"
"What?" I asked.
"Having to tell Jake!" he said.
"Having to tell me what?" Jacob's voice came from behind us.
We both started and spun around. There behind us stood Jacob. A little
ways beyond him were Andy, the twins, and even Grandma, who was still
wearing her apron.
Harry's eyes filled with tears again, when he saw Jacob. Jacob's lip
began quivering then too, and his eyes got watery.
"Harry, there's no way you were going to be able to keep this a secret
for very long. Jake'll be OK. You need to tell him! You both need to
remember though, this is just a possibility at this point. Why don't you
two go take a walk and talk?" I said.
Harry wiped his eyes and nodded at me, smiling ruefully.
"Can I tell the others?" I asked.
Harry nodded. Then he reached for Jacob's hand and took it and said, "We
need to talk!"
Jacob looked like he was being led to his doom as he followed Harry up
the beach a ways. I watched them till they were a good distance away.
As I watched them progressing further up the beach, I became aware that
the others had joined me.
"I like your new style in beachwear," I said, looking up and smiling
slightly at Grandma. "Why don't you all sit down."
"Never mind my apron," Grandma said, sitting down on the blanket next to
me. "I want to know what's wrong!"
"Me too!" Andy and the twins all said together, as they sat down too.
Smiling slightly at them, I told them then about the Phillips' possible
move across the pond.
At first the twins were excited, thinking it was good, because they'd get
to see Harry more often, but suddenly they remembered Jacob.
"This is gonna do a number on those two, if it really happens," Grandma
said, nodding up the beach toward Jacob and Harry, who I saw had plopped
down in the sand next to each other, quite far away, up the beach from
us.
We all looked at Grandma.
"Oh come on!" Grandma said, looking directly at me. "I wasn't born
yesterday. I'm well aware that Jacob and Harry have a relationship like
you and Andy have."
I smiled and said, "well, yeah. We just didn't realize you knew."
"Well, I do. It may not be obvious to everyone, but it is if you live
with them for a while," she said. "Those poor boys!"
We sat discussing the situation for some time. Eventually, there was
nothing else to be said.
Grandma looked at the twins and said, "C'mon boys, why don't we go back
to the house and get dinner started, and let John and Andy take care of
things here."
The boys wanted to stay. They wanted to be there when Jacob and Harry
returned, so they could tell them they were sorry about what was
happening.
"You can tell them that at home. Now come along," Grandma said.
Reluctantly the boys got up then.
"We'll see you back at the house. Dinner'll be whenever you get there
and want it," Grandma said.
I smiled up at her, and thanked her. Then, she and the twins left.
Looking up the beach, Andy and I could see the boys still sitting next to
each other, deep in their own conversation.
* * *
Harry had led Jacob far up the beach, so nobody would be able to hear
what they talked about, and if they wanted to yell, scream, or cry,
they'd have some privacy. As they walked up the beach, neither boy said
a word.
Finally, when they'd gone as far as Harry felt was far enough to afford
them the privacy they'd need, he had Jacob sit down next to him.
First he told Jacob he loved him very much, and that he'd never
intentionally do anything to hurt him. He told him that he wanted their
relationship to last forever, and that he wanted to always be there for
him.
"But...?" Jacob asked, as a tear ran down his cheek.
"But... it seems I might not always be able to be with you now," Harry
said.
Jacob just looked at Harry, his lower jaw quivering.
Harry told Jacob then about his father's job situation, and the fact that
they might be relocated to New York.
Jacob's response surprised Harry.
"Oh thank God!" Jacob said, wrapping his arms around Harry.
"WHAT?" Harry cried, pushing Jacob off of him, and looking at him like he
was nuts.
"I thought you were sick, and dying or something!" Jacob said, laughing.
"I thought I was going to lose you!"
Harry looked at Jacob seriously and said, "You are going to lose me
Jake! We'll be living an ocean apart!"
"No problem," Jacob said, smiling confidently. "You'll move in with us.
John will fix it!"
Harry looked at Jacob. A slight smile flickered briefly across his
face. Then he said, "No, that won't happen. I've already asked my
father, and he won't hear of it," Harry said.
"Y-You already asked?" Jacob asked, looking upset again.
"Yes, and he said 'no'," Harry said. "He said that if they move to New
York, I have to move too and live in New York with them! And John won't
be able to change his mind!"
Jacob's jaw started to tremble then, as the full implications of the
situation set in. Both boys sat looking at each other then, and slowly
they each lost their battle to keep from crying. After a minute, Harry
wrapped his arms around Jacob, and the two hugged each other. Neither
let go of the other then, because both of them had started to cry.
Sitting holding each other tightly, both boys wept bitterly, as the full
realization of what could happen settled over them.
After a while the boys' crying subsided, and the two separated and sat
looking at one another. Neither said a word. Neither knew what else to
say.
After a couple minutes, Jacob got up and said, "Let's go talk to John!
He'll know what to do!"
Harry looked dubiously at him, but got up, and walked with him back to
where Andy and I were sitting.
* * *
"He knows now?" I asked, as the boys walked up to us.
Harry nodded. Both of them looked upset and unhappy.
"Why can't you convince the Phillipses to let Harry live with us?" Jacob
asked, looking at me.
I smiled at Jacob and said, "for the same reason, I wouldn't be able to
convince Elizabeth to let you go and live in New York with Harry."
They both looked at me questioningly.
"Guys! Your parents love you both very much. Harry's parents love him,
and Elizabeth loves you, Jacob. They want you to be with them until
you're grown up. They're your parents and its their job and duty to
raise you! Besides, they love you too much to let you leave before it's
time for you to go off on your own. The Phillipses aren't going to allow
Harry to live with us, anymore than Elizabeth would let you, Jacob, go to
live in New York with Harry!" I said.
"Well, can't we all move to the US then?" Jacob asked.
Harry's eyes got big, and his eyebrows shot up a little.
"You do have a house here that we could live in," Jacob said. "Besides,
you always wanted to move back here?"
I chuckled and said, "Well, yes. I could very easily move back here, but
it wouldn't be so easy for the rest of you. See Harry's father will have
a work visa to be able to stay in the US, and he'll easily be able to get
his family visas so they can accompany him. I could just come home.
But, I wouldn't be able to get visas for the rest of you, since you have
no reason to come here to live. You're not my son, or even my blood
brother. Point is, you guys wouldn't be able to get the papers to move
here. Besides that, Elizabeth wouldn't want to live here. She has her
job, her friends, her house, Austin, you, and a whole lot of reasons to
stay in England. Then of course there's Andy here too! It might not be
so easy for him to get a visa to come here permanently either. And
wouldn't you miss England anyway Jacob?"
"I'd miss Harry more! Please! We have to do something!" Jacob pleaded.
I reminded both boys that it wasn't necessarily a done deal yet. Mr.
Phillips didn't have the promotion yet. I reminded them that he'd just
gotten one promotion, and usually promotions didn't come one on top of
the other, although this wasn't always the case. We talked for a while
about the possibility that it wouldn't happen, and both boys seemed a
little hopeful by the end of our conversation, that it might not happen.
At the very least, they agreed to try and not worry about something they
weren't sure was going to happen. I told them that when and if we knew
for sure that it was going to happen, we'd deal with it then.
Eventually, I suggested we go back to Grandma's, as it must've been well
past suppertime. I was happy when Harry agreed, saying he was starving.
We picked up our blanket and headed back to the car, then drove home.
* * *
When we got home, we all had supper together. Afterward, while Andy and
the boys watched a movie that I'd seen several times before, I sat down
at the computer and started fiddling around on the internet. I knew
there were places you could build and post your own website. After
poking around a bit, I found one of them and started playing with it. By
the time the boys' movie was over, I'd created quite a nice little
website for our band. Of course I didn't know how they'd like it, but it
was simple to modify it, so I figured I'd show it to them all and get
their input, then make any changes they wanted.
* * *
That night in bed, Harry made slow, tender, passionate love to Jacob.
As Jacob laid on his back with his legs drawn up and spread apart, Harry
lowered his face toward Jacob's anus. Softly he began licking over and
over Jacob's hole, sending shivers through Jacob's body. Jacob laid with
his eyes closed, moaning softly from the pleasure he was feeling. After
a couple minutes, Harry formed a spear with his tongue and gently began
pressing on Jacob's pucker. Feeling the change in Harry's actions, Jacob
pushed gently with his ass muscles, as if he were trying to take a shit,
and Harry's tongue slid easily up inside him. Jacob began whimpering a
little, as Harry began shoving his tongue in and out of his rectum.
Harry continued tongue-fucking Jacob's asshole for some time, much to
Jacob's delight.
After a while, Jacob said, "Fuck me now Harry!"
Grinning, Harry removed his tongue from Jacob's butt, and sat up. He
pulled a tube of KY jelly out of the drawer in the night stand next to
the bed, then slathered some of it onto his hardon. Once his dick was
slippery, he lowered himself over Jacob, who was smiling seductively up
at him, until the tip of his penis was pressing against Jacob's asshole.
Again, Jacob pushed with his muscles, and slowly, but steadily, Harry's
shaft disappeared inside Jacob.
"Fuck me Harry!" Jacob, said, smiling up at his lover.
Harry smiled down at Jacob, and slowly began pumping his dick in and out
of him. At first he moved in and out of Jacob, ever so slowly, but after
a few strokes, he picked up his pace a little. Jacob began moaning
again, and closed his eyes.
"Oh yes! Do it that way Harry!" Jacob whispered, after Harry had shifted
his position slightly, causing his shaft to begin rubbing against Jacob's
prostate.
Grinning, Harry increased his speed a little, and Jacob's moaning turned
once again to more intense whimpers of pleasure, as his gland was
steadily massaged by Harry's stiff organ.
"Harder Harry!" Jacob gasped.
Harry started shoving his dick in and out of Jacob even faster and harder
then. He began to feel his orgasm starting to build as he did so. This
caused him to fuck Jacob even harder.
"Bugger!... That's Excellent Harry!" Jacob gasped, as Harry began
pounding in and out of him, and he felt his orgasm beginning to build.
As Harry steadily fucked Jacob, he began to sweat. Perspiration formed
in a sheen on his body. Some of it ran off his forehead and down his
nose, collecting until there was a large drop of it on the tip of his
nose, which eventually dripped off of him, landing on Jacob's cheek.
"Oh God Harry! I'm going to spunk!" Jacob cried in a hushed whisper.
"Me too!" Harry growled, as he started pounding his hips up and down even
faster, so that his pelvis was slamming into Jacob's ass, making little
smacking sounds, as the boys were both sweating now.
Suddenly, Jacob gave a strangled cry, and Harry felt his sphincter
contracting around his dick, as he continued shoving it in and out of
Jacob's hole. An arc of sperm erupted out the end of Jacob's dick,
flying through the air, and grazing Harry's belly, before it landed on
Jacob's chest.
The feeling of Jacob's anal muscle squeezing his cock was the final
stimulus Harry needed. As Jacob's cum was landing on his chest, Harry
groaned, and fired a huge wad of semen deep within Jacob's bowels.
Both boys continued spasming for the next few minutes, as Jacob coated
both his and Harry's torsos with his cum, and Harry painted Jacob's
insides with his own.
Eventually, both the boys' orgasms subsided, and Harry slowed down, and
finally stopped pumping in and out of Jacob's rectum. Leaving his penis
fully inserted in Jacob's anal canal yet, Harry gingerly lowered himself,
so that he was laying completely on top of Jacob, and the two were glued
together by Jacob's jism, which was smeared between their chests.
The two lay wrapped in each other's arms for some time, neither saying
anything. Both were breathing heavily from their mutual exertion.
Eventually, Harry felt his penis return to its normal flacid state, and
he lifted his hips slightly, extracting himself from Jacob's ass. They
both grinned at each other, as Harry's dick slid out of Jacob's hole.
Harry rolled over then and reached for a T-shirt that was laying on the
floor. He used it to wipe Jacob's semen off the two of them. He also
wiped his dick dry. Then the two of them pulled the sheet up and
snuggled together and kissed a little.
As they lay together enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking, Jacob's
mind wandered back to the possibility that the ecstasy he was feeling now
might be only temporary. As he thought more about the possibility that
Harry might be moving away from him, tears filled his eyes and he began
to sniffle.
Realizing what Jacob was most likely getting upset about, Harry's eyes
welled with tears too. The two lay wrapped in an embrace then, crying
quietly together. Neither said a word to the other. They both just wept
quietly, until they'd each fallen asleep.
* * *
Both Jacob and Harry seemed really depressed the next morning. As we
were eating our breakfast, the phone rang. John answered it, and came
and got me.
"It's for you," he said.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Just go talk to them," he replied.
I gave him a funny look, but went and took the call. It was Laney. Her
father had called from New York and told her and her mother about his
meeting with us, and and about how he'd told Harry about the move. Of
course neither Mr. or Mrs. Phillips realized how devastated Harry really
was, because they were both unaware of Harry's and Jacob's relationship.
Laney however did realize. She thought she should call to see how Harry
was. I told her about how upset both Harry and Jacob were.
Laney told me then that the move wasn't certain yet. Mr. Phillips was
actually 3rd in line for the promotion. There were two other men who
were to be offered the job first, but nobody knew if they'd want to
relocate to America or not. That's why it was possible that Mr. Phillips
would be given the opportunity to take the job. Laney felt though that
if he was asked, he would accept it. Laney also told me that the job was
only temporary. It would only last for a couple of years. Two or three
at the most. So, the Phillipses would keep their house in London. And
Mr. Phillips had agreed not to rent it out, so that the family could come
home periodically for vacations. Besides, Mrs. Phillips didn't want
anyone living in her house, or the bother of storing all of their
belongings.
I thanked Laney for all the information she'd given me, and asked her if
she wanted to talk to her brother. She did. so, I went back to the
kitchen and sent Harry to the phone.
When Harry returned to the table, he was smiling slightly. He told
everyone pretty much what Laney had told me.
"So, it really may not happen, but if it does happen, it might not be as
horrible as it seems," Harry said. "At least it wouldn't be forever, and
we'd be coming home for vacations."
Jacob seemed a little less upset upon hearing Harry's news as well. I
knew that both boys were still upset though, and scared of the
possibilities, but they both did their best to appear cheerful, and they
did a fairly good job of it.
"They're both being so British about it!" Grandma remarked later on,
smiling ryely at me.
We both smiled at each other then.
* * *
Later that day, Andy and I both received overnight mail from the
recording studio. I got a box with several copies of our CD in it, and
we each got envelopes with our checks for our initial fees for our CD.
Andy was ecstatic! We went to the bank a little while later, and I
helped him cash his check against my account.
"I've never had so much money in my life!" he chortled, as he counted out
his $2,000.00.
I told him he might lose it if he kept flashing it about the way he was.
I suggested he get travelers checks with most of it, so he could take the
money back to the UK and cash it there. He thought that was a good idea,
and did, keeping only a couple hundred dollars in cash.
* * *
Later on, back at the house, while we were lazing around, shooting some
hoops with the boys, the guys from the band all showed up. They were all
grinning about getting their checks too.
We talked about the CD a little then, and about how much Mike would've
gotten off over having recorded a real CD, just like a real rock star.
"It's a good thing he wrote that song!" Craig said. "It really helped us
get our contract! It's so good!"
"I know," I said. "I'm thinking about taking a little of the money I
earned from the CD and doing something in Mike's name, to honor him."
"That's a great idea!" Legs said. "Count me in."
"Yeah, Me too!" Boner said.
"NO!" I said, before anyone else could chime in. "You guys don't have to
do that just because I am."
"Well, we're all benefiting from his song, even though you're the one he
left it to!" Turkey said.
"Yeah, so if you're donating, we all are!" Jewels said.
"You never even met Mike!" I said to Julian.
"But I'm playing his song on our CD!" he said. "Without your friend
Mike, we might not have gotten to where we are!"
I continued to protest a while, but they wouldn't hear of it.
Finally, Craig said, "So, how much were you going to donate anyway?"
"Well, I was thinking of a thousand bucks," I said.
"OK, I'm putting in a thousand too!" Craig said.
The others all said they were as well then.
"So we'll make a $6,000.00 donation," Boner said, "and I have an idea of
where to donate it to too!"
"Where?" I asked.
"Brian's starting up a crisis center for teens who're feeling suicidal.
He wants to start out with a hot-line that kids who are in trouble can
call. Eventually, he'd like to open a shelter." Boner said.
"I had no idea!" I said.
"He's keepin' it pretty quiet!" Steve said.
"I guess! But it'll be a perfect place to donate to!" I said.
"I'd like to contribute too!" Andy said then.
We all looked at Andy, and I opened my mouth to say something, but Andy
interrupted me.
"I want to contribute too John!" he said.
"OK, Listen Andy, that's great. Now, I don't want to sound rude, but you
didn't earn as much as we did," Boner said. "All I mean is if you really
want to donate too, you shouldn't have to give as much as we are."
The other guys all agreed with Boner.
"That's fine, I guess," Andy said. "As long as I get to contribute
something!"
"OK! How about we go see Brian!" I said. "If you guys want, I can write
a check to Brian, and you can pay me back whenever."
They all agreed, so I quickly drafted a check and we left.
* * *
When we got to Mike's house, his firebird was parked in the driveway, so
we knew that Brian was home. Brian had sold his own car, and only drove
Mike's now. When we rang the bell, we found that both his parents were
there as well. They looked at us curiously when they came to the door.
We were invited in, and ushered into the living room. I felt slightly
uneasy, since I hadn't been there since the day we'd come to pay our
respects to Mike's parents after we heard he'd died.
"So what's up guys?" Mike's father asked.
We told them all about the CD we'd recorded earlier in the week, and how
we'd used Mike's music for the main song. I gave them a copy of the CD,
which I'd brought with me. They were all very excited, and wanted to
listen to it right away. Grinning we listened with them, while they
played our CD.
When it was over, Mike's mom was crying, and her husband had tears in his
eyes.
"Mike would've loved it!" Brian said, rubbing his eyes as well.
"Well, without Mike, we wouldn't have gotten this far, so in recognition
of that, we'd like to make a donation to the suicide prevention program
you're setting up," I said, looking at Brian.
"What?" Brian asked, completely shocked.
I took my wallet out and pulled out the check I'd written out before we
left Grandma's.
"This is from all of us. We pooled our money. I just offered to write
the check," I said, handing it to Brian.
Brian's eyes bugged out when he saw the amount I'd written the check
for. He started to protest, but we didn't let him. Finally, choking
back tears, he hugged each of us, thanking us profusely, as his parents
looked on with tears in their eyes as well.
"So how else are you planning on raising funds?" I asked.
"Well, various fund raisers, I guess," Brian said. "I kind of need some
publicity though. I'm setting up a booth at the city's Fourth of July
festival this weekend, and hoping to spread the word, and maybe make a
little money that way. I want to get the hot-line up and running as soon
as possible, so I need cash! What you guys just gave me is fantastic!
We'll be open so much sooner now!"
"Well, maybe we can come up with some other ways to publicize what you're
doing. I'll add a blurb to the band's website. In fact, maybe you
should start one yourself, and I'll put a link on our site to your's," I
said.
"We have a website?" Boner asked, looking at me, blinking.
Everyone was looking at me curiously.
"Oh yeah," I said, grinning, and tinging pink. "In all the excitement,
I kinda forgot to tell you. I was noodling around on the net a little
while last night, and I kind of created a website for us. I didn't want
to tell anyone until I got all your input though first."
"You created a real website for us?" Mitchell said, grinning.
All the guys were grinning, and Brian and his parents were smiling too.
"Uh, yeah," I said.
"When can we see it?" Craig asked.
"Anytime you want. Just bring up
http://www.geocities.com/TheSixShooters," I said.
"That's so cool! We have our own website," Pete said.
"And our name's in it!" Julian said.
"Well, like I say, it's just something I was playing around with. We can
change anything you guys don't like. But it would be a good place to
publicize Brian's suicide prevention program," I said.
"'MIKE's you mean," Brian corrected me.
"And, let's have a gander at your site," he added, picking up a laptop
off the coffee table.
"What was that URL?" he asked.
I told him the URL again and he quickly logged onto the net and brought
up the site I'd put up.
"Oh My GOD!" he said, and he looked up at me. His eyes were watering
again.
He turned the laptop so his parents could see. Brian had scrolled down,
centering the tribute to Mike I'd made on the site in the middle of the
screen.
"Wow!" Boner said. "That's so great!"
Mike's mom started crying again.
"That's beautiful John, Thank you," Mr. Weiss said.
Blushing, I quietly thanked him.
Brian showed everyone the whole page then, starting at the top and
scrolling downward.
"If anyone doesn't like something, I can change it," I said. "And I
could add a few lines about 'Mike's Program' if you want!"
"That'd be great! And your site's great!" Brian said. "You're hired to
do one for the center!"
Everyone laughed and started talking about the site then. The guys all
agreed it was really nice, and they all said it was great the way it was,
not to change anything, but just add the part about the suicide
prevention center.
Grinning, I told them I would do that.
The conversation switched back to other possibilities for fundraising and
publicity. As they were all talking, my mind began to wander off...
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The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.